"Leveraging" Your TS For Maximum Benefits

[Picker57]

Greetings all,

We are Shell owners, and our 8300 points are generally good for a couple of weeks (or slightly more) at our favorite spots. However I'm becoming greedy and would like to get better at stretching this into more time. We've used SFX and their Bonus Weeks, which does help. And other systems also offer bonus weeks, with various timeframe restrictions.

I keep reading - in various threads - about TUGers getting costs down into very modest weekly costs. Can we start a thread here with folks sharing their strategies? For example, I know that 'short-notice' weeks can be very economical, but unpredictable and difficult to utilize for locales requiring flights (eg. my fave, Hawaii).

Bill's section on II (the "Polls About Exchanging" sticky) is quite interesting, as Shell will be switching from RCI to II at the first of the year. I'm hopeful that this might help. I never got great results through RCI, and I don't know that the Shell system lends itself to the TPU scenarios.

All suggestions and strategies for stretching our 'sand, surf, & umbrella drink' time will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for sharing.

Best to all,

Zach

 

[ronparise]

Several strategies that come to mind. These are, for the most part,specific to RCI and Wyndham,(what I own) but Im sure other exchange companies and other systems offer their own opportunities

1) RCI's "Last Call" does not require a deposit of a week or points. just money. Less Than $300 gets you a week somewhere

2) RCI points has a last minute option where you can use as few as 7500 points to reserve a week. My one week that yields 74000 points can reserve 10 weeks

3) Also with RCI you can deposit early and reserve late...ie deposit a week, a year in advance to yield. for example. 20 TPU and reserve last minute for as few as 4 TPU each

4) Buy and deposit a so called tiger trader. There are certain weeks at certain resorts that offer very good trading power. Use these weeks to trade for lesser weeks. (There is for example a resort in Wisconsin where the experts here say you can get 10 or more weeks for a $1000 annual mf)

5) Wyndham offers discounts in the 60 days prior to check in. Im guessing other systems do as well. Use these discount windows

6) I see a weeks vacation as 2 days travel and 5 days in a resort. Wyndham charges more for weekends than they do for weeknights So I travel Fri and Saturday and stay at the resorts Sun-Thurs.....saves a bunch

7) I own at a resort that offers a "right to use week" in addition to my week. I rent my week to cover mf and use the second week for myself (free)

8) rent a portion of what you own to cover mf on everything. ie let your tenants pay for your vacations

 

[Picker57]

Thanks Ron - Excellent checklist. I'm guessing/hoping that II has benefits to similar to the RCI ones that you mention. If so, will definitely check out their TPU equivalents. I'm guessing, also, that a highly-prized week booked with Shell can be considered a Tiger Trader, whether it's banked back into a TPU-type system.

Thanks for the tip about banking early. I've heard both sides of that issue, but this seems less dicey than holding out to the last minute in hopes of an 'offer you can't refuse'.

Your 'travel time / resort time' analysis is good. Now if I can only talk my Dearly Beloved into doing a road trip...........

Mahalo nui loa,

Zach

 

[DaveNV]

I don't know if you're looking for more ownerships, but MROP (Multi-Resorts.com) is a mini-system that offers owners bonus time on a first-come-first-served availability basis. If you're flexible you may be able to get a lot of extra time for little to no money. In addition, MROP is managed by VRI, and reserved weeks can be exchanged up the line, including into RCI.

Dave

 

[Picker57]

Ah...good to know. That's one I hadn't heard about, and will definitely check it out. Nope, I'm not looking to own more...just to better utilize what we've got.

Thanks,
Zach

 

[slip]

I'm curious how you get bonus weeks from MROP for no money? No money is
always good.

 

[DaveNV]

I'm curious how you get bonus weeks from MROP for no money? No money is
always good.

Ok, it seems I spoke too soon. I'm still learning about MROP, and the best I can find offhand (since I'm looking for it, and naturally can't find what I thought I remember reading ) is the Bonus Time. It has a three-night minimum, for $38 per night. Not free, but still pretty cheap. Maybe it was Day Use at the home resort that was free? I'll keep looking...

Dave

 

[JudyS]

I don't know if you're looking for more ownerships, but MROP (Multi-Resorts.com) is a mini-system that offers owners bonus time on a first-come-first-served availability basis...

I used to own three MROP contracts. However, I started to feel they were no longer a good value, as the MFs had gone up considerably and there were high fees for such things as changing a reservation. I gave one of my MROPs to a Tugger--that MROP had special booking privileges into some resorts in Washington state that he was interested in. I gave the other two MROPs back to the MROP organization. I think MROP is only worth owning if you get a contract with special booking privileges to a resort that particularly interests you.

....
I keep reading - in various threads - about TUGers getting costs down into very modest weekly costs. Can we start a thread here with folks sharing their strategies? For example, I know that 'short-notice' weeks can be very economical, but unpredictable and difficult to utilize for locales requiring flights (eg. my fave, Hawaii)...

One Hawaii strategy is to book a hotel that allows cancellations with no penalties, book your airfare, then set up an ongoing search for a timeshare. If you pick an island with lots of timeshares (Kauai or the Big Island), and you aren't looking for holiday dates, the odds of getting a decent resort should be excellent.

If you like to go places that have lots of timeshares, II offers some very good trade opportunities during "flexchange" (that is, 59 days or less out). All resorts trade the same during flexchange, except there are some quality restrictions in effect. I don't know much about the Shell system, but if there are low-cost weeks you can book at 60 days or more before check-in (an off-season studio, say), or if you can book last-minute weeks (less than 60 days but more than 14 days before check-in) these may offer excellent value for "flexchange" use in II. I just traded an off-season studio (not a Shell resort) with an MF of less than $200 for Marriott's Cypress Harbor (Orlando.)

 

[JudyS]

...There is for example a resort in Wisconsin where the experts here say you can get 10 or more weeks for a $1000 annual mf...

That would be the UDI ownerships at Christmas Mountain Village! They are an unusual type of fractional (deeded as 3 weeks per year), that limit the number of reservations that owners can have at one time, rather than limiting the number of weeks owners can use each year. A UDI owner can have three reservations at a time (1 red, and 2 off-season), and as soon as one check-in date passes, they can book another reservation. (UDI owners also get a fourth reservation, one made 45 days or less before check-in, but these can be tough to book.)

You can easily get more than 10 weeks a year off of a Christmas Mountain Village UDI. I bought one earlier this year, and booked nine weeks for check-in between June 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011. In my opinion, a UDI is the best deal out there for someone who can use a lot of timeshare weeks. (Or even a modest number of weeks -- summer weeks can be rented, and deposits into RCI Weeks can have their TPUs combined.) Christmas Mountain Village trades in both II and RCI, too.

However, booking 10 weeks in a UDI costs more than $1000 a year. Yes, the MF is about $1000 (a bit less), but there is also a $55 cleaning fee per reservation. So, 10 reservations would cost $1500. There is also talk of doing major renovations to the resort, which would require a (large) special assessment.

IMO, it's still a great deal. The HOA has a few UDIs available, for payment of the 2011-2012 MFs (MFs are billed each June) plus a modest closing fee. There's a thread on this on the bargain board.

 

[Picker57]

If you like to go places that have lots of timeshares, II offers some very good trade opportunities during "flexchange" (that is, 59 days or less out). All resorts trade the same during flexchange, except there are some quality restrictions in effect. I don't know much about the Shell system, but if there are low-cost weeks you can book at 60 days or more before check-in (an off-season studio, say), or if you can book last-minute weeks (less than 60 days but more than 14 days before check-in) these may offer excellent value for "flexchange" use in II. I just traded an off-season studio (not a Shell resort) with an MF of less than $200 for Marriott's Cypress Harbor (Orlando.)

Thanks, I'm anxious to learn more about II. Shell doesn't have much in the way of discount periods (slight points discount at 14 days, 6 day max stay.....big whoop!), but does have some very cheap off-season studios. Are you saying you'd book one of these and then be able to trade it for 'the good stuff' during the flexchange period? Shell does allow cancels up to 60 days w/o penalty, so maybe there's a Hawaii strategy here......Also, there are some pretty decent rentals becoming available at about that time window. Hmm.....

Thanks again,
ZK

 

[chellej]

Even a great Shell week would not be considered a tiger trader because of the high maintenance fees. In RCI's new system a "tiger" is really not applicable as it was in the old days. Now it is more cost per TPU. For example I have a week that maintenance fees are around $500 and I get 52-55 TPUS. I can get anywhere from 1 to 10 weeks out of this depending when and where I want to go. Hawaii weeks many are in the mid 20 range so I would be able to get 2 weeks.

II you may get a bonus week and II is a little more generous in use....59 days. They also have the xyz 2 for 1 exchange.

I never used the 700 point deal with RCI but hopefully they will have something similar with II.

My shell points I do not exchange...I use for going to shell resorts. You might think about looking at the direct exchange board since some of the Hawaii and San Francisco weeks are high demand and little availability, you may be able to get someone interested in direct exchange.

 

[Picker57]

For example I have a week that maintenance fees are around $500 and I get 52-55 TPUS. I can get anywhere from 1 to 10 weeks out of this depending when and where I want to go. Hawaii weeks many are in the mid 20 range so I would be able to get 2 weeks.

Two weeks in Hawaii for $500 in MF's....not too shabby. Are these "Shell qualitiy" resorts (or close)? Are you finding them well ahead of the arrival date or are they more apt to be short-notice items? It sounds like the TPU 'system' (is that an RCI term?) will be the most helpful.

Thanks,
ZK

 

[chellej]

I will give you some examples of what I see today

Kona coast II 1 bdrm april 6 2013.... 21 tpus
Hono koa 2 bdrm oct 13, 2012......25 tpus
Lawai Beach Club 1 bdrm dec 7, 2012... 18 tpus
Panioli Greens 142 check ins TPUs 15-29 through nov 2013
The Bay Club 20 check ins TPUs 18-22 Aug 2012

Whyndham Shearwater 4 checkins TPUs 25-26 Late 2012

Today I see a total of 748 units in Hawaii 416 of these are less than 23 TPUs There are only 23 units that require more than 33 TPUs

 

[EileenL]

where is the week you get 50+ TPU?

Even a great Shell week would not be considered a tiger trader because of the high maintenance fees. In RCI's new system a "tiger" is really not applicable as it was in the old days. Now it is more cost per TPU. For example I have a week that maintenance fees are around $500 and I get 52-55 TPUS. I can get anywhere from 1 to 10 weeks out of this depending when and where I want to go. Hawaii weeks many are in the mid 20 range so I would be able to get 2 weeks.

II you may get a bonus week and II is a little more generous in use....59 days. They also have the xyz 2 for 1 exchange.

I never used the 700 point deal with RCI but hopefully they will have something similar with II.

My shell points I do not exchange...I use for going to shell resorts. You might think about looking at the direct exchange board since some of the Hawaii and San Francisco weeks are high demand and little availability, you may be able to get someone interested in direct exchange.

where is the week you get 50+ TPU? what time period? IS it 1bdr or more?

 

[heathpack]

I think most of your questions will have to wait until you learn how Shell points can be used in II. You already know about the obvious things- II XYZ weeks, SFX bonus weeks, Getaways. Once you see the II-Shell points chart, you will have to sit down and study it for any little advantages for Shell owners. Maybe it will turn out that there are none.

Other things to consider:
1. As a Shell owner you have access to partial week bookings in places that are popular weekend destinations with limited TS availability- ie SF, Napa, and Anaheim. These might be candidates for you to book a long weekend stay and trade privately for a week long stay elsewhere. I would never advocate that you try to take advantage of another TUGGER, but there may be specific circumstances in another TS system where those owners can book a week "cheaply" and they would be happy to trade a week for your weekend. There are definitely weeks like this in Hyatt and I would absolutely consider exchanging one of these full weeks for a long weekend at a certain Shell resort.
2. If hotels also work for you, start collecting Starwood points through AMEX spending, as long as you have good credit card self-control. It is pretty easy to earn a 5-day hotel stay which you could combine with say a 4 night Shell stay. We have considered this strategy with our Disney points- 5 nights at a DVC resort and 5 nights at the Swan makes for a nice trip without using as many of our "expensive" DVC points.
3. With SFX, can you deposit a SF studio? I see SFX has those all the time, assume they are ok owner deposits? If so, pay for an SFX Plat membership and you can turn your studio deposit into a 1BR exchange, plus several 1BR bonus weeks.

H

Greetings all,

We are Shell owners, and our 8300 points are generally good for a couple of weeks (or slightly more) at our favorite spots. However I'm becoming greedy and would like to get better at stretching this into more time. We've used SFX and their Bonus Weeks, which does help. And other systems also offer bonus weeks, with various timeframe restrictions.

I keep reading - in various threads - about TUGers getting costs down into very modest weekly costs. Can we start a thread here with folks sharing their strategies? For example, I know that 'short-notice' weeks can be very economical, but unpredictable and difficult to utilize for locales requiring flights (eg. my fave, Hawaii).

Bill's section on II (the "Polls About Exchanging" sticky) is quite interesting, as Shell will be switching from RCI to II at the first of the year. I'm hopeful that this might help. I never got great results through RCI, and I don't know that the Shell system lends itself to the TPU scenarios.

All suggestions and strategies for stretching our 'sand, surf, & umbrella drink' time will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for sharing.

Best to all,

Zach

 

[momeason]

Xyz in II

Hi Zach,
XYZ is great and you will only find out about it on TUG. There is a thread devoted to XYZ. Extra weeks cost $170, no points used. weeks must be available and in the current XYZ window. No ongoing searches. Even the II agents know less than some of the TUG experts. Read the entire XYZ thread
and ask questions about what you don't understand.

 

[Picker57]

Unfortunately, patience has never been my long suit, but I'm reluctantly accepting that I'll need to wait for Shell to give us the secret word/handshake to be able to access I.I. so I can study it. Thank you VERY much for mentioning XYZ - I'm not at all familiar with it, and happy to know of the thread.

As far as SFX and studios, I think they accept them only for San Fran, NYC, and London. Yes, definitely worth their Platinum level membership for the upgrade. We've become so spoiled with timeshares that a hotel room / studio seems like camping. Their Bonus Week system has changed - actually for the better. They're called Lifestyle Weeks; we've not used any yet, but it looks very promising.

Thanks for the suggestion about possibly booking / breaking off a long weekend to trade separately. That may take some time to develop, something we retirees have in spades.

Thanks for these suggestions; now if only we can figure out how to make flying fun......

Cheers,
Zach

 

[Picker57]

Hmm......not finding the XYZ thread. I'm seeing references to it in Google, but everything seems to be a dead end. Any tips?

ZK

 

[heathpack]

You know, I haven't seen much discussion of this here, but I actually think the new SFX bonus week system aka "Lifestyle Weeks" is significantly WORSE. It costs way more now for a Lifestyle Week booked 6-12 months out, the cost for those weeks now exceeds the threshold of what I typically am willing to spend for a TS week. The 1-3 month out reservations are the most comparable to an XYZ week and unfortunately are significantly more expensive. And on top of that, IMO, the best SFX has to offer are Grand Mayans, NY, SF and London and they now charge a $300 per week upgrade for those. A 1-3 mo booking of a 1BR SF for $600 is not bad, but it exceeds my target price for a TS week (I aim for $450). For me this is compounded by the fact that I use many of these bonus weeks for long weekends and $600 is too much for a weekend trip. I can book NY, SF and London for free using Starwood points and am totally fine with a hotel room. So my take on the new Lifestyle Weeks is a thumbs down- it's an ok program but does not seriously tempt me away from II. If I want a Grand Mayan I will deposit with SFX or maybe in a few other select scenarios, but not really to get some lifestyle weeks.

There is an XYZ thread on the Starwood board & another one on the sightings board.

H

Unfortunately, patience has never been my long suit, but I'm reluctantly accepting that I'll need to wait for Shell to give us the secret word/handshake to be able to access I.I. so I can study it. Thank you VERY much for mentioning XYZ - I'm not at all familiar with it, and happy to know of the thread.

As far as SFX and studios, I think they accept them only for San Fran, NYC, and London. Yes, definitely worth their Platinum level membership for the upgrade. We've become so spoiled with timeshares that a hotel room / studio seems like camping. Their Bonus Week system has changed - actually for the better. They're called Lifestyle Weeks; we've not used any yet, but it looks very promising.

Thanks for the suggestion about possibly booking / breaking off a long weekend to trade separately. That may take some time to develop, something we retirees have in spades.

Thanks for these suggestions; now if only we can figure out how to make flying fun......

Cheers,
Zach

 

[MuranoJo]

where is the week you get 50+ TPU? what time period? IS it 1bdr or more?

I have a similar experience with low m/f, and have gotten mid-60s TPU for a 2bd that is a lockoff. I deposited as 2 separate units, but I got that for a New Year's week.

Oh, and it's a 'lowly' MX location.

 

[Picker57]

You know, I haven't seen much discussion of this here, but I actually think the new SFX bonus week system aka "Lifestyle Weeks" is significantly WORSE. It costs way more now for a Lifestyle Week booked 6-12 months out, the cost for those weeks now exceeds the threshold of what I typically am willing to spend for a TS week. The 1-3 month out reservations are the most comparable to an XYZ week and unfortunately are significantly more expensive. And on top of that, IMO, the best SFX has to offer are Grand Mayans, NY, SF and London and they now charge a $300 per week upgrade for those. A 1-3 mo booking of a 1BR SF for $600 is not bad, but it exceeds my target price for a TS week (I aim for $450). For me this is compounded by the fact that I use many of these bonus weeks for long weekends and $600 is too much for a weekend trip. I can book NY, SF and London for free using Starwood points and am totally fine with a hotel room.

There is an XYZ thread on the Starwood board & another one on the sightings board.

H

Interesting. I was under the impression that the two programs (Bonus Weeks and Lifestyle Weeks) had about the same costs but that the Lifestyle Weeks had the added flexibility of the shorter/cheaper booking windows. Yes, the locale upgrade charges are a pain, but didn't BW's have comparable additions? I don't know anything about XYZ (will remedy that soon....thanks for the thread locations). Also, there are more L.W.'s availabe than there were Bonus Weeks....but maybe that's no biggie in view of the extra costs.I like your idea of a $450 target for the week.
I'd planned to use our exchange week for the high-end places and the L.W.'s for others. Will also check out the Starwood point system.

Mahalo,
ZK

 

[Picker57]

There is an XYZ thread on the Starwood board & another one on the sightings board.

H

Dang...I'm still not finding the thread, including through the 'search' button. Could someone mercifully send me a link?

Thanks VERY much,

TechnoDolt

 

[heathpack]

Dang...I'm still not finding the thread, including through the 'search' button. Could someone mercifully send me a link?

Thanks VERY much,

TechnoDolt

http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148647. This one is on the exchange board.

Here is Nodge's original thread on the Starwood board. http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120035

However before you get too excited about the XYZ deal, here is a thread detailing my recent experience. I predict the XYZ that was an awesome deal will be diluted down to something not-so-great.
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158296

The basic concept is that staying on top of every new nuance in trading your TS is a ton of work to get a handle on a constantly evolving subject. You have to enjoy doing it as a hobby, it does not necessarily make sense in a purely mathematical way, considering the value of your time. If you enjoy it, you can maybe get a lot of weeks cheap. Or you could just not worry about milking every ounce of value out of your TS and enjoy it in a more traditional way- ie use it. Typically the rules with that do not change over time, and it takes way less to keep up with it all.

H

 

[Picker57]

Again, thanks for these leads and your ongoing counsel. Relative to your last paragraph, I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. I realize that working the timeshare game to the max is a time/attention sink. I have the time to really work with these things but probably not the attention span (it's a geezer thing...you wouldn't understand..). I'm really mostly looking for a way to spend a LOT of time in Hawaii on the cheap. Methinks I was a coconut in my last life.

Mahalo nui loa,

Zach

 

[JudyS]

Thanks, I'm anxious to learn more about II. Shell doesn't have much in the way of discount periods (slight points discount at 14 days, 6 day max stay.....big whoop!), but does have some very cheap off-season studios. Are you saying you'd book one of these and then be able to trade it for 'the good stuff' during the flexchange period?

Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. But there are two caveats. First, there are of course no guarantees that what you want will be available during flexchange. Secondly, although II removes most trade power restrictions during flexchange, if Shell offers members a "corporate account" rather than a regular account, then Shell will control the trade rules. For example, back when DVC was part of II, there was no "flexchange" period for DVC members depositing into II.

Shell does allow cancels up to 60 days w/o penalty, so maybe there's a Hawaii strategy here......Also, there are some pretty decent rentals becoming available at about that time window. Hmm.....

Thanks again,
ZK

60 days out is a lot further in advance than I was thinking. The "good stuff" in Hawaii is at maybe 14 days out. What are Shell's penalties for last minute cancellations?

Also, if you are looking for Hawaii cancellations, you want to be looking in as many exchange companies as possible. I think you'll really want an RCI trader, not just Shell points, if you want cheap Hawaii weeks.

Oh, and don't forget smaller companies such as www.htse.net and www.tradingplaces.com. They get a LOT of Hawaii inventory.